Andrew Bynum: ‘The Collective Energy is Just Bad Right Now’

While his Laker teammates and coaches took the team’s third-straight loss to an inferior opponent in stride, Andrew Bynum ripped into the squad last night for their lackadaisical approach. From ESPN: “If there was one player on the Lakers’ roster most responsible for their remarkable turnaround after the All-Star break, it was Andrew Bynum. And now that the Lakers are starting to look like the lackadaisical bunch they were before the break, when they hit rock bottom with a loss to Cleveland, no player has been more vocal about it than Bynum either. ‘I just think we’re going out there and playing kind of stupid basketball,’ said Bynum after his 13 points and 17 rebounds weren’t enough from stopping the Lakers from losing to Golden State to extend their current losing streak to three games. ‘We’re not playing our smartest,’ he continued. ‘People are going hard, but the energy … When you put negative energy out, it’s going to come back to you. That’s what happens. And it goes all the way down the line, from the coaching staff to the players who miss free throws to when we came in at halftime, the video guy put in the [wrong game] from two-three games ago against Golden State. So, the collective energy is just bad right now.’ [Kobe] Bryant, who scored 10 of his 25 points in the fourth quarter to cut the Warriors’ 19-point lead to eight in a too-little too-late rally, took it all with a grain of salt. Asked if Friday’s game against Portland was a ‘must-win’ to avoid dropping four straight, Kobe replied with thick sarcasm: ‘It’s massive. It’s a season-turner.’”